October 07, 2008

Indian new mining policy likely in 2 months – Mr Reddy

Mr T Subbarami Reddy union minister of state for mines said that the government plans to have a new mining policy in 2 months. He added that the policy announcement was taking time because the views of 28 states had to be taken into account.

Me Reddy said that "The new mining policy can be expected to be announced by April 2008. It has now to come to the final stages and is going to the cabinet within a few days."

He said that the mining sector can attract massive investments. There will be investments to the tune of INR 5 trillion and employment generation of around 1 million over the next 6 years. He added that chief ministers of 5 mineral rich states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand had met Dr Manmohan Singh to discuss some issues and they were now satisfied.

Mr Reddy further added that India has a mineral area of 185,000 square kilometer, but lack the technology and capital to exploit them. But once the new policy comes into effect, global entrepreneurs would flock to the country with technology and capital. India was rich in bauxite and coal and well placed to occupy a prime place in aluminum manufacturing. The aluminum production was expected to increase and touch the 5 million tonne mark over the next 5 years from 1.2 million tonnes annually now.